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How did Latin American Spanish come about?
Well, it all began in 1942. When Christopher Colombus arrived in the Americas from Spain and began what we now know as Spanish colonization. Following the conquest, the Spaniards settled in many different places in the Americas. To know more about the Conquest, click here. The different Spanish dialects Some may not be aware that there are also other Spanish dialects, what we know as variants of the Spanish language. Within Spain, in socio-linguistic terms, one can roughly distinguish between the northern (Castilian) dialect and the Andalucian dialects of Castilian Spanish,... more here. The first Spaniards to settle in the Americas were mostly Andalusians. Obviously, these brought some of their regionalisms with them and greatly affected the culture and the way Spanish is spoken in Latin America. ........................................................................................... Which came first? Catalan? French? Italian? Portuguese? or Spanish? A student in our class once asked this question. That question led to some research being done. To answer that question, as some has aptly put it, it is better to go back to history and ask how and when the countries were formed. That would give a clearer picture of how the different Romance languages evolved. An interesting read for the historians. The origin of France. ........................................................................................... 
Joke Of The Week
Juan y José están en un restaurante. Mesero: Buenas tardes, señores. ¿Qué desean? Juan: Quiero un agua mineral, por fa... Mesero: ¿Cómo no? ¿Agua mineral con gas o sin gas? Juan: Con gas. La quiero con gas. Mesero: ¿Y usted señor? José: Yo quiero un vaso de leche. Mesero: Por supuesto. ¿Leche con plástico o sin plástico? Juan y Jose: ¿¿¿??? Translation John and Joseph are in a restaurant. Waiter: Good afternoon gentlemen. How can I help you? John: I want a mineral water, please... Waiter: Of course. Mineral water with or without gas? John: With gas. I want it with gas. Waiter: And you sir? Joseph: I want a glass of milk. Waiter: Sure. Milk with plastic or without plastic? John and Joseph: ??? ............................................................................................ |
Want to learn a language and help the poor at the same time?
For every new word you learn, you donate 20 grains of rice through the UN WORLD FOOD PROGRAM. Check it out here > FREE RICE A brief on the origin of the Spanish language
The Spanish language was developed from Vulgar Latin, brought to the Iberian peninsula by the soldiers and colonists of ancient Rome. with major influences from Arabic, during the Al-Andalusian period, and minor surviving influences from Basque and Celtiberian, and to some extent the Germanic languages via the Vandals. It is thus enriched by many loan words from other languages, especially Arabic, French, Italian, and various indigenous languages of North, Central, and South America. The oldest extant written records of Spanish date from the middle of the 10th cent. A.D. Two types of Spanish Due to the Conquest, we have today two types of Spanish (generally speaking), namely European Spanish (spoken in Spain) and Latin American Spanish (spoken in 21 countries in Latin America). The differences? Some has attempted to draw a parallel with the differences between British English and American English. It's quite appropriate to say that and the easiest for the layman to understand. Going a bit, deeper, the difference may be pointed out in the following ways: 1) The pronoun "vosotros" In Standard European Spanish the plural of tú (the informal form of you) is vosotros and the plural of usted is ustedes. In Latin America vosotros is not used, and the plural of both tú and usted is ustedes. Thisspeaking to a group of friends a Spaniard will use vosotros and a Latin American will use ustedes. This also results in a difference in the second person of the verb. 2) The pronunciation of the letters "c" and "z" The letter "c", when it appears before the letters e and i is pronounced differently by the Spaniards and the Latins. The Latins pronounce it like an s while the Spaniards pronounce it as like a th. Listen to the differences here. 3) The vocabulary An example is the Spanish word for computer. In Spain it is called ordenador while in Latin America, it is called computadora. ........................................................................................... Spanish Idioms Of The Week
"A la orden" means "Yes, sir!" or "What can I get you?" Example: "Estoy a la orden para lo que necesites." (If there is anything you need, just ask me.) "Estar a la orden del día" means "To become the norm" Example: "Los robos están a la orden del día en esta zona." (Robberies have become the norm in this area.) "¡Es una orden!" means "That's an order!" Example: "¡Haz esto ahora, es una orden!" (Do this now, that's an order.) "Sin orden ni concierto" means "Without rhyme or reason" Example: "Cambiaron los planes, sin orden ni concierto." (They changed the plans with rhyme or reason.) |
Little Facts About The SPANISH Language
"This page is about interesting facts (some known, some unknown) that you would like to know about the Spanish language." The Editor
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Little Words And Phrases You Can Use
"¡Qué va!" (KAY-vA) can mean "You must be kidding!"
Example: "¿Es muy fácil? ¡Qué va! El inglés es muy difícil." (Its easy? You must be kidding! English is difficult.) "¡Qué lástima!" (KAY-LAS-tima) means "What a pity" Example: "¿No puede llegar hoy? ¡Qué lástima!" (He cannot make it today? What a pity!) "Claro que sí..." (CLAro-kay-see) means "Of course or definitely..." Example: "¿Estás preguntando si lo podemos suministrar? ¡Claro que sí!" (Are you asking if we can supply? Definitely!) Enjoy a short clip in Spanish exploring the relationship between love and words, between the right and left side of our brains and between our memories and what caused them.. |
   
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Did you know?
How the Spanish word Usted derived?
In Spanish, "Usted" is a corrupted abbreviation for "Vuestra Merced," which means "Your (2nd plural) Grace." "Vuestra" was written as an abbreviation "Vst" and the second half of "Merced" was added to the first abbreviation: "Vst" + "ed." Since the times of Latin, the letter "V" was pronounced as "U," and that's where we get the pronunciation of "Vsted" being "Usted."
When did the Spanish Grammar begin?
The first Latin to Spanish grammar (Gramática de la Lengua Castellana) was written in Salamanca, Spain, in 1492 by Elio Antonio de Nebrija. When Isabel de Castilla was presented with the book, she asked, "What do I want a work like this for, if I already know the language?," to which he replied, "Your highness, the language is the instrument of the Empire."
That the Spanish language has different names?
Yes, it is commonly called Español, but it is also correct to call it Castellano (or Castilian).
That there are different vocabs used for the same thing. Here's one example.
Yes, let's just look at the word corn: it's called mazorca in Spain, elote in Mexico, choclo in Chile, jojoto in Venezuela
That the Spanish language has different dialects too?
Click here.
Tinto can mean 'coffee' in Colombia?
Throughout Latin America, the word "tinto" means red wine. In Colombia, however, "tinto" is a slang for coffee. We learned this during one of our business trips there.
Playa can mean 'car park' in Perú?
The word "playa" means beach. But in some parts of Latin America, it is a short form for saying "playa de autos" which means car park.
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